774 



PARLIAMENT 



with eae of privilege, ami with qui~.tion. relat- 

 in_ r to tin' flection and conduct l tln-ir mcmlicro. 

 'ion |H>titimi- used to !x> tried by committee* 

 ill tin- IIiine, hut thi- pi act ice led tn ^n-.-it abuses, 

 anil in I SOS ilu-x- jietitionii were remitted to the 

 judge* for trial. Tlu> House iiuiy exclude, suspend, 

 or expel a mcm'x'r for mislielmvioui ; Imt it wa 

 willed in the cose of John Wilkes (q.v.) that 

 expulsion creates no disqualification ; the jienwin 

 expelled may lie re-elected, Hurke and nther high 

 authonties attach great iui|Mirtanee to thin rule of 

 the constitution, ll the House could disqualify a 

 mcmlier for re election, the majority might l 

 tempted t<i strengthen it.self by cx|>clling the 

 leaders nf tin- minority. In 1711 Sir Holx-rt (then 

 Mr) Walpiile was ex|xdled the House, and there 

 in reanon to bcl'iew- ih.it the vote in his ease was 

 derided liv considerations of party, and not by his 



guilt or innocent f the charges made against 



him. 



A- r.-p !-.: i:.j tlic w hole e.iminuiii; N . .nnl nt 

 merely a limited order, the ('ominous have long 

 been accustomed to take the lead in the liimin-ial 

 and h'^i-hitive business of parliament. Sinre the 

 a Charter the crown hus frequently admitted 

 that taxes an- n<>t to lx> levied without rons-ent of 

 parliament: ami in the reign of Hit-hard II.. if 

 not earlier, the Commons laid claim to the ' jxiwer 

 of the purse.' It is now established licyond donht 

 that the ('ominous have an exclusive right to vote 

 supplies of iiioiiey, ami to prescrilie the ways and 

 means by which money may lie raised. This right 

 is resjiecled liy tin' Louis : the last conflict lietwei-n 

 the Houses occurred in connection with the rv|eal 

 of the paper duly in Isiio. Kstimatcs of puhlic 

 expenditure are laid liefore tin- Cummons by 

 ministers, and c.in-idcrcd in committee of supply. 

 Tliis is a committee of the whole House ; the 

 Speaker leaves the chair when the committee 

 lx-gins ; the Maoe (q.v.) is taken from the tahle ; 

 the Chairman of Committees takes his sent at the 

 tahle; and the- discussion which follows is of an 

 informal character, mcinlicrs being allowed to speak 

 more than once to the game question. When Home 

 of the neci-sKiiry vot<-s have wen taken in supply 

 the House resolve* itself, in like manner, into a 

 committee of ways and means. The pollutions 

 adopted in committee are emlxxlicd in hills, which 

 are lent up for the assent of the Lords. At the 

 clone of the financial year (i.e. alxmt the end of 

 March) the Chancellor of the Kxchei|iier, in com- 

 mittee of the whole House, opens his Itudgcl (q.v.) 

 ill e\|N-iiilituri- and revenue for the coming year. 

 <lati\c husju-~ is condiicied with the Kanie 

 I'm ins as in the Lords; hut a ineiiilier must ask 

 leave of the House to iutio.lu.-c a lull. If a hill is 

 read a *ecoiiil time it is considered in detail l.v a 

 rommitt-e .if the whole House, or liy a select com- 

 mittee. A committee alwavs rc|Nirls its proceed- 

 in'.-- to the Houe. t lie Sjx-aker resuming the chair 

 for that purpose, ll.-si.les performing thesi- financial 

 and legislative duties, the House of Commons ads 

 a* a 'grand inquest ' to impure into all matters of 

 pulilic concern, ll is socially Ixiund to watrli the 

 conduct of ministers, and to inform the sovereign 

 whether they |MIM~W the confidence of the nation 

 or not. In other words, the KUp|M>rt of the 



Commons is necessary to tl xisience of a ministry, 



while a ministry may hold |M>wcr though its 

 sumxirter* nre in a minority in the Ixmls. Ministers 

 take the lead ill all impoitant business ; nml pmtv 

 .li- -ipline lends to riiluee the individual private 

 HUH to comparative insignili. 



UniiiHiriti ! I'lirlintii' iit-iiii 



Reform- I y. The functions of parliament 



have Ix-cn retiilen-d in. He imp<irtant and difficult liy 

 the |Kiliticnl changes of the hist '2INI years. In the 

 fint place there U now only one legislature for the 



I'nited Kingdom. Down to 17<C Scotland hail an 

 inde|M<ndent parliament ; the three estates of that 

 kingdom sat together in one house, and the conduct 

 of Imsinens was for the most part left to a smaller 

 IxKly called Ixinls of the Article-.. At the I nion 



the Scottish |nrlin nt ceased to exist ; it was 



agreed that sixteen Scottish JM-ITS I elected liy an 

 assi'inWy of peers at Holyrood, id the opening of a 

 new jiarliamcnl ) should sit in the lion-.- of Louis. 

 and not less than forty-Cue Scottish mcmlx-rs in the 

 House of Common-. The Irish parliament was an 

 iissemhly of a more or less provincial character. 

 sitting in two houses. Its legislative independ- 

 ence was conceded, under pressure, in ITS'.!, hut 

 it never obtained effective control over the 

 i-eutive (see (iiiATTAN). By the Act of I 'nion 

 the liish parliament was taken away; it was 

 agreed that twenty -eight Irish peers i elected for 

 life) should sit in the House of Lords, and 100 

 Irish memliers in the House of Commons. Thug 

 the English parliament became the parliament of 

 the I'nited Kingdom. Hy the acts extending 

 toleration to Human Catholjrs ( |S2!), Jews ( 1858), 

 and Secularists under the Oaths (q.v.) Act of 

 1888 new elements have IKM-II introduced into 

 parliamentary life, and new questions have arisen 

 tor legislative treatment. Successive Heform 

 acts have widened the democratic basis of the 

 House of Commons : the Act of 1832 gave jxiwcr 

 into the hands of the middle classes; the Acts of 

 180" and 1SS4, by admitting all householders and 

 1(1 lodgers to the franchise, have given a preponder 

 ance of voting jHiwer to the working-cl:i>ses. One 

 result of these successive changes is that the 

 Commons are now 070 in numlier : they arc, in 

 fact, much t<M numerous for a del ilx-rative assembly. 

 The colonies ami ilcpendcnck's have no direct repre- 

 sentation in either House ; but questions of imperial 

 policy occupy no small share of the time of parlia- 

 ment. With the advance of democracy, the sphere 

 of legislation has licen extended ; large schemes 

 for promoting education and sanitary reform, for 

 regulating mines, factories, and shipping, and for 

 the creation of new executive department* and 

 local authorities are brought forward by all political 

 parties. K.ich party makes its power felt by push- 

 ing its own measures and by dilatory resistance 

 to the measures of its opponents; obstruction has 

 IM-CII reduced to an art; the labours of thiwe who 

 lead the House of Commons have become intoler- 

 ably heavy, and the old rules of debate are found 

 unequal to the strain of political conflict. In 1882 

 the House adopted new rules of procedure, and 

 these rules were further amended in 1887. A 

 motion for the closure of a debate may now lx' put 

 at any moment, with the assent of the Speaker or 

 Chairman. Hut a question for the closure of 

 debate is not decided in the atlirmalivc unless it 

 appears that the motion is supported liy more than 

 !BM) members, or U opposed b\ lc-s than 40 and 

 supported by more than 100 niemlters. Dilatory 

 motions for adjournment have been checked; 

 tedious and irrelevant speakers may now be 

 slopped by the chair; a member 'named' to the 

 House as disregarding the authority of the chair 



may IN- suspended for a time fr his service. 



lljfii-ivi. The chief ntiicer of the House of 

 Commons is the Speaker, who is chosen by the 

 members from among their own number, at the 

 o|>ciiiiigof a new parliament. The Speaker elect, 

 presents himself at the bar of the Lords for the 

 approval of the crown, which is given in a cu-lom 

 ary form of words by the Lord Chancellor. The 

 I.er then lays claim to the ancient privileges of 

 the Commons: on returning to his own House he 



takes tl nth lieforc the other membeis. Inducted 



with these forms, the Speaker becomes the picsi- 

 dent and -poke-man of the House, with authority 



